The Goal of Jealousy

Exodus 34:14 (NKJV)
For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

Most of the time, when we think of jealously, we think of a possessively enraged boyfriend or husband who wants total control of his female counterpart. Or we think of an insecure teenage girl blinded by jealously because her friend has something or someone that she does not have. The goal of this kind of jealously tends to be one of revenge or stealing back that which they thought was theirs.

With God, though, His goal is quite different. God indeed is jealous and He wants all of our love to be directed toward Him, but His method of gaining our love is quite different. Observe the way He has responded to those who have stepped away from Him. Adam and Eve had a pure relationship with God, no sin present, and they only had one way to disobey. Even though they did walk away and fail God’s command, what did God do? Did He destroy them or completely wipe them out? No, He treated them with love. Any father who loves his children will discipline them and then give them another chance. Even though Adam’s decision affected the whole human race, God still gave him and sinful man a way to still reach Him – faith.

God’s chosen people grumbled continually in the wilderness. They walked away from Him many time and openly disobeyed His commands, but God had mercy on them time and time again. He did not respond in hurt or vengeance, but He responded in love in order to win their love back toward Him.

We disobey God all the time and He will forgive us every time if we ask Him. God’s methods are one of winning our love and not one of enraged wrath because He has lost our love for that second. Man has committed every kind of despairingly evil form of wickedness, walking away from Him and rejecting Him in every form possible. But He humbled Himself, became a man, experienced life as we do, died in our place because we sinned against Him, and He did this all out of love. He jealously yearns for our love, but He will not force us to love Him if we do not want it. He may make things very uncomfortable in order to show us how much we need Him, but He is only doing this out of extreme love for us.

He desires to have an intimate relationship with us so deeply that he will go to every extent to bring us to Himself. He will use every form of kindness and love to capture our love, but if we do not want it we will be disciplined or allowed to see the results of our decisions. This truly pains the heart of God when He offers His best and we still reject it. But it trills His heart when we follow Him and obey Him in faith.

The only people that God will not forgive any more are those who have died and have knowingly rejected him. They no longer have a chance after death. If you have never asked Jesus to be your savior, you still have a chance before your last breath. Repent of your sins and trust Him as savior this day.

Thoughts, comments, objections, prayer requests.

Daniel A. Smith